Portsmouth boss hails last-gasp intervention from 'outstanding' ex-Burnley and Wolves man as Blues strengthen grip on League One

Pompey entered eight minutes of time added-on with a 2-1 lead over the Imps, following goals from Paddy Lane and Regan Poole.

However, they suffered a scare when Paudie O’Connor was presented with a free header at the far post to level.

Remarkably, Norris pulled off a point-blank stop to keep the centre-half at bay, thereby securing the three points for League One’s leaders.

And at the end of a week which saw the ex-Burnley man gift Barnsley a goal on Tuesday night, it was a timely reminder of his talents.

Mousinho told The News: ‘I thought we were well in control and performed really, really well, just slightly scrapy towards the end.

‘When you get away with the chance Lincoln had at the end, I thought it would have been really, really tough on us to not have won the game - but you can’t leave yourself open to those opportunities.

‘A set-piece, long ball into the box, the ball drops down on the edge and, if he puts it into the back of the net, we will rue not seeing the game off properly.

‘Will has been outstanding since he arrived and not just his distribution. Has not been called upon a huge amount, yet when he has, he’s made those saves.

‘He’s aggressive off the line and makes sure he tries to dominate whenever he can, which is brilliant. Sometimes if he’s aggressive and drops the ball, I don’t care, he is going to save us far more.

‘I didn’t speak to Will after the second Barnsley goal, frankly he has been brilliant and goalkeepers are always going to be disappointed with goals they let in.

‘I just can’t think of any goals I can have a pop at Will Norris about. He has been absolutely excellent, a breath of fresh air coming in, and does so much for the side.

‘Everybody makes mistakes, goalkeepers get punished when they make mistakes, that’s one of the unfortunate things, but our players make more mistakes than Will.’

Victory positions the Blues one point clear of Oxford United at the top of the table, albeit with their rivals having a game in hand.

And Mousinho felt his team deserved their latest win.

He added: ‘When you have that much possession – which we thought we did – and Lincoln were set up to frustrate us, you have to concentrate. You have to make sure you are switched on when in possession and to make sure the transition is right.

‘Performance-wise, I actually thought it was really professional and we completely dominated it, controlling for large parts.’